Category: Vaccine Headlines
Updated Covid vaccines need to target XBB omicron variants this fall, FDA staff says
CNBC U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff on Monday said updated Covid boosters should target XBB omicron subvariants for the upcoming fall and winter vaccination campaign. The U.S. should use a monovalent vaccine targeting either XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, or XBB.2.3, collectively the dominant strains nationwide, the staff said in a briefing document. The FDA staff made the conclusion ahead of a meeting on Thursday, […]
Jun 14, 2023
Vaccine Candidate for Chikungunya Virus Safe and Effective
MedPageToday A single dose of the live-attenuated vaccine candidate VLA1553 for the prevention of disease caused by chikungunya virus produced a strong immune response, a phase III randomized trial showed. At 28 days post-vaccine, 98.9% of participants in the per-protocol population who received the vaccine had seroprotective chikungunya virus neutralizing antibody levels (95% CI 96.7-99.8, P<0.0001), […]
Jun 13, 2023
Next COVID Vaccine Should Only Target XBB Strains, FDA Staff Says
MedPageToday The next COVID vaccines should exclude the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and exclusively target the Omicron XBB subvariants, according to FDA staff members. They unveiled their recommendation in a briefing document ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), stating that “the totality of available evidence suggests that a monovalent […]
Jun 13, 2023
F.D.A. Approves Pfizer’s R.S.V. Vaccine for Older Adults
NYT The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., for adults age 60 and older, the second approval granted for shots offering protection from the virus this month. GSK was the first drugmaker to get the F.D.A.’s permission to market an R.S.V. vaccine on May 3. The vaccines are expected […]
Jun 6, 2023
Companies won’t share COVID-19 shots, stalling future vaccine research
Science Developing more broadly protective products requires comparisons with existing shots that Pfizer and Moderna won’t allow. The U.S. government has tens of millions of unused doses of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, regularly trashing shots as they pass their expiration dates. It’s a dismal reflection on recent vaccine uptake, but it’s also a serious […]
May 31, 2023
Neurologic Events After COVID-19 Vaccines Assessed
MedPageToday All patients hospitalized with new or relapsing neurologic events after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination at a New York tertiary hospital had one or more risk factors for their neurologic condition, a prospective study showed. The most prominent neurologic index events in these vaccinated patients were ischemic stroke (37.7%), encephalopathy (32.6%), seizure (15.9%), and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH; […]
May 30, 2023
Here’s what Pfizer and Moderna say is next for their Covid vaccines
NBC Three years and billions of Covid vaccinations into the pandemic, Pfizer and Moderna say their work is far from over. The two pharmaceutical companies, whose Covid vaccines have become household names, are ushering in a new era for their shots that will elevate the role they play in protecting public health, but also simplify what people need to do to coexist with the virus. […]
May 22, 2023
Safety Data on Maternal RSV Vaccine ‘Favorable,’ FDA Staff Says
MedPageToday A maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate prevents infections in infants and comes with “generally favorable” safety data, said FDA staff in briefing documents released ahead of an advisory committee meeting this week, but the reviewers “noted potential uncertainty based on the numerical imbalance in premature deliveries.” On Thursday, members of the Vaccines and Related […]
May 16, 2023
Clinical trial of mRNA universal influenza vaccine candidate begins
NIH A clinical trial of an experimental universal influenza vaccine developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institutes of Health, has begun enrolling volunteers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. This Phase 1 trial will test the experimental vaccine, known […]
May 16, 2023
What’s in the RSV vaccine, its side effects and when you can get one
Washington Post The first vaccine to prevent the respiratory disease caused by RSV was approved this week by U.S. regulators for use in adults 60 and older. The shot, developed by pharmaceutical giant GSK, will be rolled out ahead of the fall and winter RSV season, when transmission peaks. Most people are infected by respiratory syncytial virus repeatedly over […]
May 9, 2023